


Shadowpaw's Story

by Shadowpaw (TheDemonShipper)



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alone in a strange place, Book: Warrior's Apprentice, Cats, Clan Attacked, Clans, DeathClan, F/M, FireClan, Kits, Lost Apprentice, Lost Clan, Lost Kit, Medicine Cat Apprentice, Medicine Cats, RiverClan (Warriors), ShadowClan (Warriors), SkyClan (Warriors), ThunderClan (Warriors), Warrior Cats, WindClan (Warriors), warriors - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 13:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15487098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDemonShipper/pseuds/Shadowpaw
Summary: This story follows FireClan apprentice Shadowpaw and her younger sister Emberkit as they meet the Clans around the lake. I do not own the Warriors franchise, I am only responsible for my clans and cats, such as Shadowpaw and FireClan.





	1. Shortest Freaking Prolouge Ever

Shadowpaw blindly ran, her paws hardly touching the ground, her eyes wide with terror. She could hear them advancing on her.

Tha-thump, tha-thump. Faster and faster the pawsteps came, closing in on her. The hunters had no reason to mask their presence, their prey already knew she was being pursued, and she was tiring. If she was caught, she was as good as crow food. She was no longer keeping her wits about her, she was simply running for her life.

Her lungs hurt from trying to keep up this maddening pace for so long, and her soft pads were scraped and bleeding from her crazed sprint. She was not used to so much hard exercise. She had hoped they wouldn't bother with her, but she should have known better... her enemy didn't care about her position in the clan, or even the fact that she was too young to pose them a threat. She didn't even know any moves to defend herself against them, so fighting wasn't an option and even if it had been, she didn't like her chances.

She yelped when she felt one of her pursuer's claws slash her hind leg, blood flowing out of the wound. It hurt to run, and she was losing stamina. She would have to turn and fight soon, or she would drop from exhaustion.

Suddenly she came back to her senses and found herself on the edge of the ravine overlooking the river. She tried to stop herself, skidding with her paws, but it was simply too late. She fell over the side, yowling for her mentor and mother until she hit something hard, fell another few tail lengths before hitting an equally hard substance and tumbling into the swift river far below. She fought for breath and flailed around in the water before she slipped under the waves and her vision went black. 

 


	2. ThunderClan Patrol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Graystripe stumbles upon a badly injured apprentice on ThunderClan's territory, he doesn't know that he has actually began uncovering a secret that has been hidden away for centuries. The existence of a sixth clan that presides far away from the other four clans around the lake.

A ThunderClan patrol consisting of Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Cinderheart, Icepaw, and Graystripe was patrolling the clan borders when Graystripe saw a bit of black pelt through some ferns. He went over to investigate and was horrified by what he had found there; half in and half out of the river was an apprentice sized black she-cat who was hardly breathing. He came a tail length further and could smell sickness flowing from her in waves. Then he noticed that one of her back legs was twisted at an awkward angle. He put a nose to her pelt for a second before jumping back; she was burning up with fever. He had to find the rest of his patrol and fast, while there was time to save her. He bounded through the forest as fast as he could.

He found the patrol quickly and managed to spit out, "Help, cat, hurt, bad." before bounding off again towards the place where the black she-cat lay with the rest of his patrol behind him.

Once they got there all of the cats stood frozen in horror at the sight of the black she-cat's condition.

After a moment, Cinderheart spoke, saying, "We have to get her to Leafpool immediately. Icepaw run ahead and warn her, go as fast as you can and don't stop for anything." The other cats had started to move into place to help her move the black she-cat back to ThunderClan camp while Icepaw spun around and bolted towards camp.

Icepaw burst through the thorn tunnel and into ThunderClan camp, her eyes filled with horror, and pelted past all of her clan mates, into the medicine den.

Leafpool looked up from her herb sorting at the commotion to see Icepaw at the entrance to her den, her pelt sticking up with shock and her gaze glazed with terror.

"What's wrong?" Leafpool called, she had never seen Icepaw this petrified.

Icepaw said, "Black she-cat, lying beside river, sick, fever, barely breathing."

Leafpool gave Icepaw a few poppy seeds and sent her off to bed before getting moss and making a nest for their new arrival. She had just finished making the nest when the rest of the patrol burst into her den caring a badly injured, very sick and unconscious black she-cat apprentice. They gently placed her in the nest Leafpool had made before she shooed them off so she could work. She stayed awake all night helping the small she-cat, praying to StarClan that she would make it through the night. The next morning the she-cat stirred and Leafpool felt a glimmer of hope.

 

~{Shadowpaw's POV}~

Shadowpaw's eyes fluttered open and she blinked hazily up at the sunlight pouring through the branches.  _What time was it?_ She wondered,  _Surely Lionpride would have woken her up by now?_ Her head felt fuzzy, but eventually she realized that she didn't recognize any of the scents surrounding her. A blurry shape came into her vision. It was the outline of a strange cat. 

She hissed loudly and struggled to get to her feet. The cat was trying to say something, but whatever it was didn't make it to her ears. It was as though they were full of water. She managed to gain her balance, if not very well, but it was enough to assist her in blindly scrambling out of whatever she had been in. Her one thought was to call for her mentor, she would be able to help her understand why the world seemed to be spinning. "Lionpride!! Help me!!"

Her speed increased as her desperation grew, but it aided her little, seeing as she didn't have a clue of where she was going. All she knew was that this wasn't home and she needed to escape. She hit something that staggered and even in her dazed state she could smell another cat, a tom. It had been his pelt she'd rammed into. "Lion...pride..." She mumbled. Weakly she cried, "Help me. Take me back home." She turned to run again but only succeded in running into something much harder then any cat's pelt she'd ever known and everything faced to black once more.

~{Thunderclan's POV}~  
Firestar was regaining his balance as the strange apprentice swooshed past him then smashed into the camp walls before falling into a heap. He glanced at her in bemusement for a moment before he picked her up by her scruff and carried her towards the medicine cat den.

As he neared it, Leafpool ran out. When she saw what he was caring she sighed with relief,  
"Thank you Firestar, I wasn't prepared for her to run screaming like that. I didn't think she would be able to in her condition," she admitted.

Firestar nodded, unable to speak with the apprentice's scruff in his mouth. He set her gently back into her nest, fever still coming off in waves and she kept yowling, "Lionpride, help me!!!" Her voice was cracked now and had quieted since she'd run.

He turned to Leafpool and said, "I'm guessing that you won't be coming to the gathering tonight?"

She answered, "No way. I'm staying with her."

He sighed "Alright, at least try to get some sleep though, you won't do her any good if you're exhausted in the morning."

"I'll try," she promised before saying goodbye.

When ThunderClan emerged into the hollow where gatherings were held on the island, the strong scents of RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan told them that they were the last to arrive. Firestar lept up onto a branch of the great oak while Brambleclaw took his position among the other deputies and Jaypaw sat down with the other medicine cats. There were a few murmurs about Leafpool that died down when Firestar yowled, signaling the meeting to start.

Onestar padded forward, about to speak when Firestar cut him off, saying, "I have a question for the other clan leaders, have any of you lost a black she-cat apprentice lately?"

The other leaders shook their heads.

Onestar said, "Why do you ask, Firestar?"

He replied, "One of my patrols found a young black she-cat apprentice very sick and unconscious. Leafpool is with her now." The other leaders looked troubled by this but said nothing about it. There were more then a few murmurs from all of the clans as

Firestar continued his report. He eventually finished by saying,"Other than that all is well in ThunderClan," he stepped back to let the other clan leaders speak.

As soon as the gathering was over Firestar led his clan home right away. He had wanted to check on the little she-cat and his clan was still weary.

 

The next day Squirrelflight came to see if she could help Leafpool with anything. She found her sister asleep in her nest, and the little black cat in her nest, side slowly falling and rising.

Squirrelflight slowly tiptoed to the edge of the den and was about to leave when a small voice with sadness and urgency in it called out to her, "L... l...Lionpride?! D...d... don't l...leave m... m... me."

She turned around slowly, surprised to see the young black cat looking up at her with big orange eyes, her gaze pleading.

Instantly Squirrelflight felt her heart go out to the little she-cat. She wasn't who this cat thought she was (her fever was making her delusional) but maybe she could still be there for her. "I won't," She breathed, "Go back to sleep now." 

The raven furred apprentice's gaze, although hazy fixed on her in a hopefull plea. 

Squirrelflight turned and stalked over to the small cat's side, curling up next to her. She could feel the young cat's breathing slowly steady as she drifted back to sleep. Squirrelflight studied the small black pelt as it rose and fell. The strange cat was young, even for an apprentice. She might have a few moons experience, but not much more than that. She paused for a moment as a new question formed in her mind.  _Who was Lionpride?_ It sounded an awful lot like a clan name, but Firestar had told the clan that none of the other leaders had been missing an apprentice, more specifically a pure black one. 

When Leafpool awoke, she seemed confused to find Squirrelflight lying next to her young charge. Once Squirrelflight had explained however, Leafpool had seemed thoughtful. After a moment or two, she turned back to face her, "I know you have patrols and hunting, as well as dealing with your three terrors, but..." 

Squirrelflight recognized the unspoken question. "I'll try... If I have any free time." 

 

For the next week, Squirrelflight spent all of her free time lying next to the little cat and helping Leafpool take care of her. The little she-cat hadn't woken up since she had desperately sought out Lionpride. But Squirrelflight didn't let that stop her from staying by her side at every free moment she had.


	3. Fireclan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the clan that has been lost from the memory of even StarClan, FireClan.

Now we must expand a bit to a place far, far away from clan knowledge. Past the place where Dovepaw would eventually find the beavers and their dam. Even past StarClan's knowledge, to the sixth clan: FireClan. The story of FireClan is far complex and must be told separately from this story because this is Shadowpaw's story, not the history of FireClan.

FireClan was still recovering from the recent attack from DeathClan in their camp and the horrible news that Shadowpaw was missing and thought to be dead. Warriors, Queens, Elders, and Apprentices were cleaning up camp, patching up the outer wall and the dens. Shadowpaw's mentor, Lionpride, was silently grieving for Shadowpaw in her den and counting herbs to keep herself busy.

In the middle of the chaos, two young kits were asleep by their mother in the nursery, while one little kit was awake, her eyes intently watching the older kits play-fighting.

"Feel my teeth Bloodstar!" The fiery she-kit yelped before she and her sister jumped onto a brown tabby who was pretending to be DeathClan's leader.

"Ahhh!!! I'm defeated!!" The brown kit yelped before dramatically falling onto his side under a blob of orange and white fur.

The little kit knew that she was supposed to be napping with her littermates but she wanted to know how the battle had taken place and decided to ask the older kits because she figured that the other kits might have heard something from the elders' den.

"Flamekit?" The little kit questioned, "Will you tell me about the battle with DeathClan? Please?"

The fiery she-kit climbed off of the dark tabby kit and walked over to the little kit. "I don't know, little kit, I don't want to give you nightmares, your mother wouldn't be pleased if I did," she meowed.

"Please!" The small kit begged, "I won't get nightmares and Leaffrost is asleep so she won't know."

"Well, okay," Flamekit mewed "But if she gets mad or if you have nightmares I am not responsible for them, right?" She asked, lifting her green gaze to meet the little kit's gaze and letting it rest there for a moment.

The little kit replied, "Right." Flamekit stretched each of her legs in turn and settled down next to the little kit with her sister and the tabby kit close behind.

"At first, it was quiet and nothing was out of the ordinary and then a battle cry rang out, soon followed by another and another till the camp was full of noise."

The little kit listened on even though she had heard all of the noise from the nursery, but she was afraid that Flamekit would stop the story if she interrupted, so she stayed quiet.

"There was fur and blood everywhere. Cloudpool was fighting a big black tom with blood on his paws. And I can't forget Jayheart; she was fighting three toms and a she-cat all by herself. And Blossomflight was fighting a tortoiseshell she-cat, even old Fernshade and Flowerpelt and Molewisker fought and wow, you should have seen Rageclaw he fought like TigerClan, sending those scoundrels running! And of course, Leaffrost and Firefly helped to guard the nursery. Even Lionpaw and Lightningpaw fought, the lucky furballs! Oh, and Moonlight was fighting a large tabby tom and white she-cat and Lavastar, she fought like LionClan and TigerClan and LeopardClan, fighting off cat after cat and, sending them yowling into the gorse! Eventually, Shadowpaw got separated from Lionpride and then..." (Flamekit paused dramatically)

"Well, what happened then?" The little kit questioned, her eyes big and her fur fluffed up in excitement.

"They started to retreat and run off. A warrior patrol went after them. Soon after the patrol had returned, we found out that Shadowpaw was still missing and a patrol went out to search for her. It was difficult in the rain though. They followed her scent trail to the cliff and then it stopped at the edge with DeathClan scent right on top of it-"

"So DeathClan chased her." The little kit meowed.

"Hey, whose story is this little kit?"

"Oops, my bad, Flamekit." The small kit said.

"Just don't interrupt me again," The older kit meowed with an angry flick of her tail. "Now where was I? Oh, now I remember, the DeathClan cats had chased her into the river before retreating. Afterward, patrols checked both sides of the river but couldn't find her or any scent of her. Eventually, the patrol realized that they had no hope of finding her and they quit looking and went back home."

 _Well,_ The little kit thought,  _They couldn't find her but I can._ She had made up her mind that after the camp was quiet and asleep that night she would sneak out and find Shadowpaw and come back a hero. She waited until the nursery was quiet and everyone was asleep before she looked out the entrance _Wow_ , The little kit thought, _Camp is huge_. She waited until the camp was deserted before she headed out. She skirted the entrance, knowing that there would be a guard on duty and looked for another hole in the wall. She spotted one commonly used, for there were many scents and paw prints coming and going. When she reached the barrier, a horrible smell hit her scent glands and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. She hurried away from the smell and picked up a sweet, familiar smell, almost overlayed with the smell of death. Shadowpaw. She raced along the scent trail with no idea of how much longer she had until dawn. She kept running and then became aware that she was falling, faster and faster. There was a splash and a thunk before all was black.


End file.
